Attendance / Absences

Attendance

Attendance at school is very important. Research shows that children who miss time from school do not achieve as well as those children who have good attendance. Staff at Owler Brook Primary School work very hard to support your children in their learning and to ensure that they make maximum progress.

If your children are not attending school then they are not learning!

The school'sAttendance Policyoutlines our procedures for dealing with attendance. In particular it refers to our procedures around pupils who take time off during term time. Time off during term time usually occurs when a family decide to visit relatives abroad. In the past parents have taken their children away for considerable periods of time - sometimes up to 10 weeks! As a result of this, we will no longer authorise any term time absence. If a family wants to take their children out of school during term time then it is their decision but this may result in a visit from a local authority officer, they may be fined or their children may loose their school place. The child’s attendance will also be carefully monitored after they return and if it falls further then a fine may be issued.

No child will be allowed out of school during the day unless collected by a Parent/Carer or notified adult (age 16 plus). All pupils must be signed out by the school office and reason for leaving specified. We encourage parents to make medical appointments in the school holidays, wherever possible. Class rewards are given weekly for the class with the best attendance. Children who have 100% attendance for each term are also rewarded.

Attendance Newsletters

We are trying everything possible to improve levels of punctuality at Owler Brook. We try to offer a whole range of rewards for pupils with good attendance and punctuality. Have a look at our attendance newsletter to find out our current incentives.

Poor punctuality is not acceptable. If a child is late for the start of the day, not only can they miss work but also miss spending time with their class teacher getting vital information and news for the day. Late arrivals disrupt lessons, causing embarrassment for the child involved and, in some cases, encouraging future absence. Good time keeping is a vital life skill which will help our children as they progress through their school life and out into the wider world. To see how we manage lateness please view our Attendance Policy.

In an emergency such as sickness or accident it is important that we are able to make contact with parents as soon as possible. It is, therefore, essential that the school has up-to-date telephone numbers for parents and relatives.

Please inform the school, in writing, of any change of address or telephone number – particularly if you rely on a mobile telephone!

Medicines in School

If a doctor prescribes your child medicine, it is reasonable to assume that he/she is not fit to be in school.

Where medical opinion is that your child is fit for school, but will require medication through the day, we ask that you, or a responsible adult nominated by you, comes into school to administer the correct dosage. However, we also have a number of staff who have agreed to take responsibility for the administration of medicines on your behalf. Before this can happen you will need to meet with the staff and discuss your child’s needs, along with dosage and any side effects, medical interventions necessary, etc. This includes paracetamol or other ‘over-the-counter’ medication.

In the case of inhalers, for children with asthma, our experience is that children are very proficient in administering these, themselves. However, we ask that parents ensure that there is always a spare, working inhaler in school (clearly marked with your child’s name) as a precaution.

For life saving medication, such as Epi-Pens, staff will administer the prescribed dosage once training has been provided.

Reporting Absences

It is the parent's responsibility to inform the school of their child's unexpected absence as soon as possible.

We may attempt to contact parents, if their child is absent from school, without our prior knowledge. The purpose of this is to ensure the safety of children who may walk to school, unattended.

When a child is ill, the school should be informed of the nature of the illness before 9.00am on the day and when the child is expected to return to school. If the school does not receive such information, then the absence will be classed as unauthorised.

Leave of absence may be given for attendance at medical or dental appointments although, wherever possible, such appointments should be made out of school hours.